Lee Anne Kempton reported to the
board about the 2004 season of West Nile Virus. A West Nile Virus 2004 Season
Timeline was distributed to the board. Highlights were a rate of infection
lower than last year. This occurred for many reasons including a decrease in
the birds that carry the virus, immunized horses, earlier larvaciding, earlier
spraying of Culex adults, a season not so conducive to mosquitos and an
education program that reached 3,800 people via live presentations and 34,500
brochures and handouts distributed throughout the county. Monies for West Nile
Virus control was $148,000 County money, $18,000 from the State and no Federal
contribution. The cities did the rest. Fort Collins was at several hundred thousand,
Loveland more than $100,000. Loveland administers an abatement district with
taxing authority to help pay for pest control

Jerry Blehm reported that the long
term plans for West Nile are still unknown. The virus is not likely to go away.
It will become classified as endemic. It will probably become a normal part of
the public health program with reminders going out every year. Having CDC (Center
for Disease Control) right here will always provide for mosquito trapping. The
County is going to recommend that communities continue to plan for possible adult
mosquito control programs. The county will continue for at least another season
of larval controls in the high breeding areas of this year (Timnath & Boyd Lake).
Spraying for adults will not be routine. The triggers are still in place for
next year. These triggers will get the attention of Environmental Health to
review the situation. The most important triggers are positive human infection,
positive bird infection, numbers of positive trapped mosquitoes and high Culex
counts.

Dave Swartz reiterated that
communication with Poudre School District needs to improve so health alerts can
be sent home with the 22,000 children. Jerry & Lee Ann responded that
efforts are always made to utilize Poudre School District and reminded the
board that children are not the target audience with West Nile, therefore the
lack of flyers going out with them was not catastrophic. The parents were
getting information from work, there was ads on TV, and there is a Health Technician
in Poudre School District to communicate information to the students.

In response to whether or not control
methods be quantified, the answer was no. A real life experimental scenario
involving humans cannot be ethically set up. To get such data requires a
controlled group. There is state collaboration as well as everyone sending data
to the CDC. The CDC reported that their data is beginning to trend toward adult
mosquito control working.

Dale Lockwood suggested that a
potential earlier indicator could be the vector birds. Could the CDC or Environmental
Health use the Christmas bird count for Corvid population in the winter to
compare at the early part of the season? Bill Miller, with Audubon, would be a
good contact.

B) Ozone

Doug Ryan gave an update on ozone,
explaining why we got to the level we are, what happened last summer, and what
may have been the cause (meteorology). He distributed a packet of information
detailing his report. Any one violation (based on a three-year average of the 4th
highest annual readings) within the region causes the entire region to be
declared non-attainment. The standard to meet attainment is 0.085 ppm or lower.
The board discussed the possibility of testing that takes known weather facts
out of the equation. In the meantime, they will watch for future trends
involving weather and ozone levels.

The state scheduled a rule making
hearing for February 2005 to eliminate the basic Inspection & Maintenance
Program program. The North Front Range MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization)
adopted a resolution in favor of continuing the program until January of 2006.
This gives another year to check the state model, and to keep the program
intact in case we do not make ozone attainment in same year.

Motion by Dave Swartz to accept draft
2 of the October 2004 minutes. Motion carried unanimously.

Motion by Dave Swartz to accept
the November 2004 minutes with name spelling changes. Motion carried
unanimously.

VII)
BCC Liaison Report - None

VIII)
Chair's comments

The Environmental Stewardship
Awards made the front page of the Loveland and Fort Collins papers.

IX)
Updates -- Committee & Other

John Bartholow reported on a
meeting with Marc Engemoen. There was discussion about the Alps tire pile, one
of the most significant environmental issues in Larimer County. Larimer County's
matching grant contribution to eliminate the pile is to take the shredded tires
without charging a tipping fee. Ramon will ask Marc Engemoen for the specific
agreement regarding the tire pile. The Red Mountain open space acquisition is
likely the last major acquisition the County will fund. Lory State Park may
close due to funding problems. The County would be interested in picking it up.
The county has funded a small study at CSU of magnesium chloride and other
agents on rural roads. There are many trees dying, and magnesium chloride is likely
part of the reason, in addition to the drought.

Lilias attended a North I-25 EIS
meeting with a motorcycle organization, who seemed generally anti-public
transit. She will continue to attend and update.

John mentioned county 1041 statutory
authority, that might be appropriate to consider in the context of water
storage projects. He will look into this issue in more detail and report back
to the advisory board.

X) Action Log Updates

Dave Swartz reported that the Big
Thompson Water Shed Forum is looking for participants to help with developing
water quality management processes. The board agreed that members of EAB,
acting as citizens, may participate at level 2. Sanjay & Bill both agreed
to participate.

Bill reported that it appears the
Dry Creek Flood project has gone from the county purview to the City of Fort
Collins. This was moved to watch until definite information about the county
role can be known. The board discussed the flood plain and its history.